Presenter Bio - Courtney Holder

Courtney Holder currently serves as the Assistant Director for Leadership & Community Service-Learning, Stamp Student Union at the University of Maryland (UMD), College Park.

Holder is a scholar-practitioner with fifteen years of experience teaching and working at the intersections of community engagement and leadership development in higher education. Courtney believes in the transformative power of critical reflection, collective action, community, and socially responsible leadership and reflects this in her work at UMD.

In her role, she leads the Office of Leadership and Community Service-Learning (LCSL) and co-directs the undergraduate Leadership Studies program. Through curricular, co-curricular, and cross-campus partnerships, LCSL provides transformative experiential and community-based learning opportunities for students to explore community challenges and develop the leadership skills and efficacy to meet them. Current projects of interest include implementing a faculty development program on integrating Civic Engagement across the Curriculum and a university system-wide effort to recruit more college students as poll workers in the state of Maryland. Courtney also serves as a Faculty Associate for the National Clearinghouse for Leadership Programs (NCLP), advancing leadership education in higher education through scholarship, resource-sharing, community-building, and professional development opportunities.

Courtney served as the Associate Director of Community-Engaged Leadership at Appalachian State University until Summer 2022. Prior to ASU, Courtney worked as a Coordinator for Leadership Development and Coordinator for Alternative Breaks at University of Maryland, College Park. She has also been an engaged member of the Haiti Compact, the National Survey of Alternative Breaks Research team, and Chair of the board of directors for Break Away. Through all of these roles, Courtney has showcased how she facilitates dynamic learning environments, fosters rich reciprocal partnerships, and executes multi-faceted operational and strategic processes that center inclusion, empathy, and connection. 

Courtney holds a BA in Communication and MS in College Student Personnel, both from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.